997 was probably an artificial idiot; it didn’t understand: 【Why?】
Zhan Yueqing paused, suddenly realizing what nonsense he had just said, and hurriedly changed his words: “Nothing!”
…It’s all Tan Huairan’s fault for forcing him to be carried back; he had already imagined a “forced love” scenario in his head.
997: 【I think you need to get your brain checked. You were crying so pitifully just now, and now you’re fine?】
Zhan Yueqing paused, avoiding the topic, “Why didn’t you come out when I called you today? Were you suppressed by something?”
Speaking of this, 997 was also lost: 【Don’t know. The moment you fainted, I lost connection. When I could contact you later, I saw you being packed up and brought away by Tan Huairan.】
Hearing this, Zhan Yueqing jumped up in anger, “Then aren’t you going to give me some compensation? I almost died today!” He said, pulling open the fine fur collar on his neck, “Do you know how big a blade was held to my throat today? That big—”
He gestured, but 997 said: 【…Can you stop taking off your clothes at will. I am a system. There is a distinction between systems and humans.】
“I’ve only heard of the distinction between men and women; what is the distinction between systems and humans?” Zhan Yueqing asked in surprise. After thinking about it, he said again: “Forget it, never mind that, where is my compensation! I want emotional distress damages!”
997 was helpless: 【I don’t have silver.】
Zhan Yueqing’s eyes brightened, having long ago made his little plans, “But you have points! I don’t want a lot, just give me 9999?”
997 was angry: 【You are lionizing [asking for an exorbitant price]!! Trying to open the storage space all at once, no way!! You’d better earnestly accumulate trust points!】
Hearing this, Zhan Yueqing sat back on the bed, even more angry, “What do you mean? In System-daren’s heart, I’m not worth these points? Then I might as well go die!”
997 really couldn’t hold back: 【Die what die… Who exactly spoiled you so delicately? Your neck only has a scratch the size of a fingernail and you’re making a scene with me?】
It felt that Zhan Yueqing was very strange—sometimes delicate, sometimes clever, and sometimes curled up into a ball, looking like he had no sense of security.
It was as if he had no one to rely on when he was young, so he curled up into a fetal sleeping position, but once he grew up and had someone to rely on, he made a scene.
Zhan Yueqing argued, “A scratch the size of a fingernail is still a wound! No matter how few points, they are still points!”
997:
In the next second, a message came from the system space that the points had arrived.
【Points arrived: 1314. Note: Compensation.】
Zhan Yueqing frowned: “So little!”
997: 【Take it or leave it, if you don’t want it, I’ll take it back.】
Zhan Yueqing paused, held up five fingers and shook them, lionizing a little, “Fifty! Add fifty more and I won’t make a scene!”
997 sneered and transferred fifty to him.
Hmph! It definitely hadn’t been bewitched!
…Who on earth put that fur-collared clothing on him, the more it looks at it, the cuter it is.
Fuck!!
The thoughts of the system and the human were independent; Zhan Yueqing didn’t know its thoughts, and suddenly asked again: “997, tell me the truth, are you a bootleg version? That’s why you don’t have the original plot.”
997 didn’t speak.
Zhan Yueqing looked at the light in the system space in his mind; the light was on, meaning it was still listening.
He squinted slightly, throwing out a little bait: “Feiyan Pavilion is so dangerous; they all want to catch me. I smell the incense they produce, and the patterns on my legs burn—it burns so painfully.”
He said this while pulling up his loose trousers, revealing his lower legs. The poisonous patterns were quiet, as if… the color had faded a bit?
Zhan Yueqing wasn’t sure.
He didn’t like focusing on his legs.
Because he was born with little body hair—almost none—leading many people in the summer to say he lacked masculinity.
He had thought that after transmigrating he could escape this weird circle, but he hadn’t expected this body to have no leg hair either.
【Put it back on!】 997 really wanted to close its eyes, but unfortunately, the eyes were the host’s.
Zhan Yueqing didn’t want to close his eyes; he just touched it again, “It seems to have faded quite a bit… won’t there be a problem with this? What kind of physique is a medicinal person anyway?”
997: 【You aren’t sleepy now, right? If you aren’t sleepy, let’s carry out the previous punishment.】
Zhan Yueqing was stunned, “Wait! What punishment?!”
As soon as his voice fell, his vision suddenly went black, and 997 said again: 【The 71-hour blindness punishment, it can’t be delayed any longer, any more delay and it will be an additional penalty.】
Zhan Yueqing screamed immediately: “No no no—not now! 997! 997! Hey!”
The system ignored him.
Zhan Yueqing: “…”
Fortunately, he had used the table to brace the door just now and had asked the system for a bunch of food to hide on the bed; otherwise, he would starve to death.
Just, would Tan Huairan come?
Better not come…
At the same time, in the Cabinet, the lights were bright.
Tan Huairan had only slept for two hours for many years; once the Hour of the Ox arrived, he entered the Cabinet to handle the accumulated official business. Many ministers in the Cabinet initially didn’t understand why he chose this time. Some ministers, when entering the palace in the middle of the night, were grabbed by the ears by their own wives who suspected that entering the palace was a pretense and having an affair was the reality, until the Emperor issued an imperial decree, and then they had peace.
Later, they got used to it, drinking strong tea and staring with wide eyes while reporting state affairs to Tan Huairan.
Today was no exception.
Just…
“His Majesty has been looking at that memorial for a quarter of an hour, right? Who wrote it? Is it written in barbarian language? Why did he look at it for so long?”
“Hard to say; I saw that when he came in today, he was very cold, as if he were about to have a nervous breakdown.”
“Then what about the snow disaster?”
“There will be a palace banquet in a few days; the Grand Princess is returning from Yanbei. I wonder what the situation in Yanbei is.”
“Come to think of it, it’s strange; everything has been fine for so many years, why is there such heavy snow this year?”
“Isn’t that the truth? The road was too slippery the day before yesterday; my son Xueyi was walking in the east side of the city and accidentally fell and broke his leg. He still hasn’t woken up…”
“Do you treat me as dead?”
The low, sinister voice suddenly interrupted everyone’s conversation. Everyone looked up toward the main seat and hurriedly confessed their crimes: “Your Majesty, forgive us…”
Tan Huairan’s cold gaze swept over them.
“As for the snow disaster, I will resolve it within half a month. Stop writing about it, otherwise…”
He threw the pile of memorials in his hand into a charcoal brazier to the side, burning them to ashes.
“Like these memorials.”
The Cabinet instantly fell silent. Everyone began flipping through the memorials in their hands, appearing very busy.
Tan Huairan was thinking about things; after finishing the important ones, he got up and left.
The ministers looked at the water clock. It was just at the end of the Hour of the Ox. They were all confused.
Leaving so early?
“Your Majesty, the Second Young Master is on a hunger strike.”
Outside the Jinxiu Palace, Zhou Jiu followed Tan Huairan with small steps, mumbling: “He doesn’t allow people to enter… Now he might be asleep; I called out just now, and he didn’t respond.”
Tan Huairan was dressed in a black dragon robe. Hearing this, his footsteps paused, and he said coldly: “What about the food?”
Zhou Jiu knowingly handed over a food box, along with a bottle carved with a bird pattern.
Tan Huairan took it and waved his hand, signaling them to withdraw.
The door was tightly closed. He pushed it, but it didn’t move. He quickly realized something was propping the door from the inside.
Tan Huairan narrowed his eyes dangerously, his voice low and cold.
“Zhan Yueqing.”
—Zhan Yueqing was curled up by the edge of the hall, sleeping in a daze.
He was a bit afraid of someone ramming the door and afraid he wouldn’t be able to notice it immediately, so he pulled the blanket and slept right against the hall door.
Tan Huairan’s cold voice was a bit terrifying. Zhan Yueqing poked his head out from the blanket, his hair ruffled from sleep, his voice carrying sleepiness: “Huh?”
Tan Huairan had practiced martial arts since his youth and had keen hearing. He caught this sound instantly and responded immediately: “Open the door.”
Zhan Yueqing stretched, wanting to check the water clock subconsciously, but his vision was pitch black. He paused, finally remembering that 997 was still in the middle of a punishment, and instantly became a lot more alert.
“Not opening!”
His voice was somewhat stubborn.
Tan Huairan: “…”
The hand Tan Huairan used to hold the food box had bulging veins, looking somewhat terrifying.
“Open. The. Door.”
Zhan Yueqing became even more alert and hurriedly said: “Open what? I’m going to sleep. Why are you coming in?!”
He was blind now; he didn’t want to be discovered by Tan Huairan.
Tan Huairan bit his back teeth, “Zhan Yueqing, this is what you said. Do you believe that I will leave now and never come back?”
Zhan Yueqing thought to himself, I wish you would. He cleared his throat, “I’m not opening! You should go back to your Haiyan Palace!”
There was no sound from outside.
Zhan Yueqing breathed a sigh of relief, covered his chest, wrapped himself in the quilt, and prepared to sleep again—
But the next moment, a faint sound came from afar, as if a ghost had opened a window.
Zhan Yueqing: “…”
A hint of panic suddenly welled up in his heart. He instantly wrapped himself in the quilt and played dead on the floor.
Can’t see me, can’t see me, can’t see me!!!
He was on the floor!
The room suddenly went quiet, and that sound was gone.
“?” Zhan Yueqing poked his head out. Was that an auditory hallucination?
Being blind is really troublesome!
—Tan Huairan entered through the window as if he knew the path well, but found the room pitch black.
Really sleeping? Tan Huairan frowned, took out a flint to light a candle, and walked toward the bed.
The moment he saw the bed, his footsteps paused.
There was only a pillow on the bed, no person and no blanket.
Tan Huairan’s brow furrowed even tighter. He turned around the hall, saw no sign of Zhan Yueqing, and immediately felt a bit anxious, wanting to punish someone subconsciously—
He raised his head to look at the eaves; the secret guards squatting on the roof pointed at the door.
Tan Huairan thought of something, put down the candle, and walked to the door, then laughed in anger.
Sleeping on the floor instead of the bed; Zhan Yueqing is truly impressive.
“Zhan. Yue. Qing.”
A low voice came from outside the quilt.
Zhan Yueqing was startled, recognized Tan Huairan’s voice, and immediately understood who the “ghost” just now was.
However, didn’t he just say he was leaving?
“Why are you sleeping on the floor?” Tan Huairan crouched halfway down, looking at the lump in front of him.
Zhan Yueqing looked dazed, his eyes… not sure where to look?
Tan Huairan furrowed his sword-like brows, sensing something was wrong, “What’s wrong?”
Zhan Yueqing said subconsciously: “Are you going to lock me up for a lifetime?”
Tan Huairan’s heart tightened, and he dismissed the secret guards.
His time was limited; he had been busy in the Cabinet just now and had tossed Zhan Yueqing into the room without explaining anything else.
Now…
“What do you think?” Tan Huairan asked instinctively, “If I really lock you up for a lifetime…”
He spoke while scrutinizing Zhan Yueqing’s expression.
Zhan Yueqing licked his lips, appearing a bit eager but not speaking; his eyes looked even more dazed.
Tan Huairan’s fingers curled, suppressing that terrible thought in his heart, and leaned down, lifting him up, quilt and all, like holding a nest of newly born cubs.
“Eat.” Tan Huairan put him back on the bed, and raised his hand to grasp Zhan Yueqing’s ankle, taking off his shoes, “What did I say before? Arguing is one thing, but you can’t skip meals.”
Zhan Yueqing was stunned.
The current him was like the sixteen-year-old Tan Huai again.